Cecil The Lion

I'm sorry if this one doesn't make much sense today but I'm deeply upset:

#Cecilthelion

We have to ask ourselves why big game hunting exists don't we?  The pursuing and killing of animals for 'the high' we get from it is a pathetic and backward habit.  It is a sad excuse of a thing to do, when rich people from America fly over to Africa for the sole purpose of wiping out a beautiful creature which is one of the few remaining natural marvels of the world.

For goodness sake lets put a stop to this pathetic behaviour, let us enshrine it in international law, please people.  These creatures feel pain, they have minds and they have fear.

If we prick them do they not bleed?

There is a line in all of this, I think Animal Husbandry is a completely reasonable part of humanity. I think we need the likes of meat (I certainly do anyway) but where do you draw the line?  Where do you draw the line?

The people writing death threats I cannot condone, but nor can I condone the slaughter of this beautiful creature.

A tearful Scarlet signs off

Jeremy Corbyn

As someone who tends to sit on the Tory side of the benches my opinion of Jeremy Corbyn shouldn't seem all that relevant, but Scarlet always feels the need to speak out.

So for those of you who haven't noticed the race is on to become the next Leader of the Opposition.  A national representation of our Democratic state the role is one of the most important in the system.

The next leader of the Labour Party will be the most public voice against the Government until the next election (provided bonnie Prince Charlie keeps his mouth shut that is).  There is now a very real possibility that that person will be veteran Labour left winger Jeremy Corbyn.  Jezza is everything Labour was thirty years ago, Scarlet's observations:

The Return of the Left?

Outside Scotland Parliament has near enough lost its bent to the left.  The New Labour bandwagon turned the old party of the unions into a centre right alternative to the Tories, indeed Lady Thatcher once claimed her greatest victory was getting Labour to shift to the right.  

Although many welcomed a shift to the right for Labour it has left the party in nowhere land, these days if you want to vote for a mottled Centre Right you can vote for Cameron and Boris, why would you vote for Labour?  As for the left, well Labour really aren't there anymore, I didn't hear Ed Milliband suggesting any Re-nationalizations or a strengthening of the unions?  Without anything to reach for Labour appears stale and the socialist movement has no-one to vote for.  Could Corbyn bring Socialism back to the agenda on the national table?

#ToriesForCorbyn

What nasty political skulduggery this is.  Many Tories are registering/supporting through media Corbyn in an effort to get Corbyn elected believing he is an unelectable spoof candidate the British public will see through, what a horrifyingly unsporting thing to do.  If you support the Labour Party you should have your say but to feign interest to try and destroy a political party is so vindictive even Lord Archer would be embarrassed.

Secondly what if Corbyn proves popular?  Imagine if the left rise as above and Corbyn gets into number 10 and you as a Tory helped it happen?  What a Muppet you would feel.  Let us leave who is representing Labour to Labour, and then debate their leader on mutual terms.

A Real Opposition

What is the point in an opposition like the current Labour Party?  Yes they rant and rave about Tories and complain about their handling of everything but there is really no ideological reason for this, it is just part of their ploy to get back into power.  If Red Ed was the PM at the moment we would see a cut in the deficit, less public spending and HS2.  Sound familiar?

With Corbyn at the helm we would see a whole new agenda, I'm not saying I would agree with it at all but at least we would have something different on the menu, a leader of the opposition arguing for much higher taxes on the rich and a return of Socialist values.  This might draw some of the protest vote back in, in the last general election Labour/Tory seats in the house are 86%, in 1992 between them they had 93%.  The big parties are losing their support: UKIP, SNP, Greens may be here to stay.  Labour could grab back from all three with the right package.



In spite of all this it seems to me that Andy Burnham will probably edge it, but New Old Labour could be on the agenda in 6 weeks time!

Cyclists

Quite often I begin these things by claiming 'this is not supposed to be a rant', much like the great Mark Kermode the rant tends to bubble over in any case, today Scarlet bangs on about the cyclists and he makes no apologies 'this is a rant'.

Why don't they ride in single file?

Why on earth is this even a problem?  Have you ever seen this insanity?  I certainly have, cyclists regularly ride 2 by 2 whilst cars are stacking up behind them because the cyclists can't make a hill.  I sympathise with the struggles of getting to the top of the hill but WHY? Why would anybody do that?

Why aren't they using the Cycle Lane?

Lets face it, motorists tend not to deal with Cyclists on the Road Network overly well.  The UK didn't invest in Cycling Infrastructure like most of Europe after the war and Britain's roads aren't exactly the widest in the world in any case.  Part of solving this issue was for councils to build hundreds of miles of Cycle Lanes alongside busy roads; flat and well surfaced these are particularly abundant in New Towns.  In certain areas the cyclists appear to snub them!  Anyone who has been behind a cyclist going round a corner with an empty 9 foot wide Cycle Lane to the side must surely have been wound up about this?  What are they doing? ARRRRRRGGGHHHH

Let us face it people, cycling is a fantastic way to get around, and we in Britain are finally starting to embrace it on our Road Network and it is great to see.  Boris Bikes, country tracks being built over old railways it is becoming an excellent and healthy hobby.  For the love of god can we please make sure the cyclists pull their weight on the safety front, after all they are the ones most at risk.